Picture Perfect

 This was not a good day.  It was undoubtedly a picture perfect autumn day. Unfortunately, that meant little to the tempers of little children. Maybe they had a bad dream. Perhaps breakfast was inadequate. Possibly the waistband of a pair of underwear squeezed too tight with an itchy tag. The point being, who can explain the rational of a disgruntled child. The child's behavior can explain the mother's agitation, however. 

It was one of those days where patience was nowhere to be seen. The volume of anger was high and the day could not end soon enough. 

Yet, two great things occurred. I met a mom who was of similar yoke to me. Creative, purposeful, and full of action. She observed me and my children then responded, "These are the survival years. When the kids are a little older you'll thrive." This simple statement offered me eminence hope. 

I have come to the conclusion there are moms who obsess over babies and cling to every achieved milestone and burp and giggle. I am not one of those moms, yet many of my role models are. Yes, babies are cute. I delight in their smiles. Although, if I'm being honest with myself, I find the dependency of babies widely overwhelming. Not to mention the lack of understanding as they pull hair or jab electric outlets or fling their bodies into the air assured someone will catch them. 

I like independence. Every day that my six year grows older I gain a renewed fondness for her. My three year old, though still a toddler with tantrums, I can see the potential for a cool kid. Which gives me hope for the youngest. 

The next great occurrence for the day, I went to a mother's bible study. I confessed my anger and frustration requesting prayer for gentleness and self-control. The last three days remained to have conflict, but because of my attitude I didn't end my days feeling defeated by rage. Frustration is still apart of the daily routine as I manage four very different personalities, mine included. For the time being though I'm not yelling to show higher dominance. I'm firm, but at peace. Thank you, prayer warrior friends. 

Years from now hopefully I'll review these sweet faces never recalling my hopelessness. Instead, to assume it was a perfectly lovely day all around.